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They played for the entire cocktail hour (and a half, since my husband I were late getting back after our photo shoot). The contract says the price for the steel drum band is $350 or so, but when we got there they offered us a lower price without us even asking. Apparently, the corporate office tries to offer a "local" music group, and steel drums aren't technically Jamaican. They said that since most people associate steel drum bands with Jamaica, and prefer them over the Jamaican trio they offer, they give a discount for the steel drum band for the cocktail hour.

I didn't add on an hour, and the reception was incredibly short! We didn't even have father/daughter and mother/son dances or a bouquet toss and still people barely had any time to dance! On the upside, going to the club after was really fun. We gave all the guests little glow stick bracelets so you could see who was with the wedding all around the club. I don't remember how much the extra hour costs, sorry.

I used Misha Earle and she was fantastic!! It took her some time to get the pictures up, but it was definitely worth the wait! One thing you should know: if you decide to use the hotel photographer that comes with the Ultimate package, they pretty much force you to go on a 30 minute photo shoot with them immediately after the ceremony. We had a 4:00pm ceremony, so if we had waited until after the cocktail hour to do group shots it would have been too dark. We ended up doing a first look picture, then all the group shots, then went to the ceremony, then went on a photo shoot with the hotel photographer, and then a photo shoot with Misha, and then finally made it to the reception. I would recommend that if you plan to hire your own photographer, don't use the hotel's photographer at all.

When I met with the coordinators for the pre-wedding meeting, they offered the steel drum band for $150. They said that all Secrets resorts try to offer a local music option, and since steel drums aren't strictly Jamaican, they offer a Jamaican trio instead. But since people tend to think of steel drums when they think of Jamaica, they have started offering that as well.

I got married at the beachfront casita in October (the day after Sandy hit!). There is only sand, and it is in the public area. It wasn't a problem - people were very respectful and I hardly noticed that there was anyone else around. We chose to have the reception in their ballroom, so we had the cocktail hour on the patio right outside the ballroom. We loved it, but you also have the choice of having the cocktail hour and reception on the beach, as shown in some of the pictures.

This isn't a lot of help for the previous brides who posted on here, but I am getting married in Jamaica in a few weeks and I found a local mehndi artist to do mehndi for me and my guests. Let me know if anyone wants any more information!

Great idea!

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

My FI and I are going to spend the whole week in separate rooms We live together right now, but unfortunately I have pretty conservative parents who would never let us stay in the same room before we're married. He will be staying with two of his groomsmen and I will stay with two of my bridesmaids.

I'm getting my bridesmaids personalized bathrobes and jewelry for them to wear to the wedding. I also paid for their dresses.

Thank you! This will be really useful once I get to 150 posts

This is so helpful, thank you!

I"m getting married at Secrets Wild Orchid in a few weeks! I'll let you know how it goes

My original post said I paid $7 per bag from Vistaprint, but I checked my numbers and they were actually a LOT less. I paid $17.00 for the original groupon, $7.00 after I used my groupon, and another $7.00 for shipping. So for ten bags, I only paid $31.00. I know the groupon is long over, but they actually do have deals pretty often. I'm really happy with the quality of the bags and the quality of the printing, so I recommend going there if you can get a good deal.

For me it's just the options they have: vanilla, chocolate, or Jamaican fruit cake. Chocolate and vanilla are pretty boring, and I'm a bit wary of the fruit cake since I won't be able to make a site visit and try it before I decide. I haven't really been able to find any reviews of their wedding cakes online, so I'm thinking I'd rather go with a place that I know more about. Of course, at this point my wedding is about six weeks away (eek!) so I'll probably just go with the Secrets options. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I'm having the same problem with Secrets! I'm planning my wedding there for October 25 of this year, and the hotel does not seem to be working with us at all; and everything we want to do has an extra cost associated with it. You would think that since we're bringing so much business to them they would try to work with us more! Anyway, I don't really have any vendors booked besides the hotel. You said you're not using the hotel's florist, so would you be able to tell me who you are using? Are you using the hotel's photographer and DJ?

Hey! I'm planning my wedding at Secrets right now. I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm Samina and I'm in San Diego. My FI and I are having our wedding in Jamaica in a little under two months (eek!) and this forum has been a lifesaver! I'd love to meet other SD brides sometime